Notebook: Yankees obtain Pudge in trade to fix problem

Thursday

Jul 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 31, 2008 at 10:37 AM

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez was the steady hand for the Florida Marlins when they won the 2003 World Series. A year later, he was the spark that helped turn around the Detroit franchise when nobody wanted to be a Tiger.

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez was the steady hand for the Florida Marlins when they won the 2003 World Series. A year later, he was the spark that helped turn around the Detroit franchise when nobody wanted to be a Tiger.

The New York Yankees hope he can be a little of both during their push to the playoffs.

The Yankees acquired the 14-time All-Star from the Tigers yesterday for hard-throwing reliever Kyle Farnsworth, a trade that filled glaring holes for both contenders.

"Honestly, I was shocked by this, but that's baseball," Rodriguez said. "Now I'm just looking forward to playing for the Yankees and maybe I will play against Detroit again in the playoffs."

In the option year of a $50 million deal he signed with the Tigers in February 2004, Rodriguez will step into the hole in the Yankees' lineup created by Jorge Posada's shoulder injury. Posada had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder yesterday and is out for the season.

Rodriguez, 36, has won the Gold Glove award 13 times. He was hitting .295 with five homers in 82 games this season.

Tigers president Dave Dombrowski said the team didn't want to trade Rodriguez but had bigger needs in the bullpen.

Farnsworth was 1-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 45 games, and joins a bullpen badly in need of reinforcements three days after veteran Todd Jones was removed from the closer role.

Yesterday's highlights

Angels 9, Red Sox 2 -- Garret Anderson went 4 for 5 with a homer and four RBI, Joe Saunders posted his 14th win and Los Angeles completed its second three-game sweep of Boston in two weeks.

Phillies 8, Nationals 5 -- Chase Utley homered for the second consecutive game, providing the big blow in a five-run fifth inning, and Philadelphia moved back atop the National League East with its fourth victory in a row.

Royals 4, Athletics 3 -- Jose Guillen drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and Kansas City completed its first three-game sweep in Oakland in 20 years.

White Sox 8, Twins 3 -- Carlos Quentin hit a home run and drove in four runs, Alexei Ramirez hit a three-run homer and Chicago stretched its division lead over Minnesota to 1 1/2 games.

Short hops

Tim Hudson is likely headed for surgery after two doctors found the Atlanta Braves ace has major ligament damage in his pitching elbow. "But he's going to take a short rehabilitation period before he makes a final decision," Braves spokesman Brad Hainje said. The slumping A's fell to 2-10 since the All-Star break, the worst record in the majors. They plan to activate Frank Thomas from the disabled list as early as Friday. The Yankees traded reliever LaTroy Hawkins to Houston for minor-league infielder Matt Cusick.

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